West Orange-Stark Mustangs fell behind early before rallying to advance to the third round of the state playoffs. The Mustangs defeated the Jasper Bulldogs 20-7 on Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Beaumont.
The win was the tenth straight for West Orange-Stark (10-1). Jasper (6-5) concludes its season with the loss.
Defenses dominated the first half for both the Mustangs and the Bulldogs. The two teams managed only nine first downs between the two of them. West Orange-Stark had one more first down while Jasper had 108 yards, one more yard than the Mustangs gained in the half.
Jasper got on the board first with an impressive drive of 87 yards in seven plays. On third-and-9, the Bulldogs threw a lateral pass to Jermario Thomas who threw a forward pass to Kenyan Vidito for 19 yards and a first down.
Another first down came on a pass from quarterback Zikeice Simmons to John Price down to the Bulldog 43. Two plays later Simmons found Thomas on a long pass that went 61 yards for the touchdown. Ayden Garcia added the point after to give Jasper a 7-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs would not gain another first down until the last minute of the half.
The Mustangs went three-and-out their first three drives. They got their initial first down of the half on an 8-yard run by Elijah Gales. The next play Keyshawn Robinson connected with Jailen Brown on a screen pass that clicked for 29 yards to the Jasper 24.
The drive stalled there for the Mustangs who went for it on fourth down, but a Robinson pass was intercepted by Thomas at the five. The West Orange-Stark defense made a key hold forcing a Jasper punt giving the Mustangs excellent field position at the Bulldogs’ 40.
The screen pass worked again for the Mustangs with Gales taking the ball to the 21 for a first down. On fourth-and-11 Dakarion Judge ran a reverse around left end for 12 yards and a first down at the ten.
Three more runs got the ball to the one. From the wildcat Gales plunged off of the left hip of center Demetrius Hunter for the touchdown. Cristian Quiteno Polio tied the game with 4:18 left in the second quarter, but there were no further scoring opportunities before halftime.
The second half kickoff was returned 50 yards by the Bulldogs’ Cameron Cuney to the Mustangs’ 45. Tylee Adams gained nine yards on first down. A pass to Thomas was incomplete. Simmons tried two quarterback sneaks which were stopped by the Mustangs’ defense turning the ball over on downs.
About four minutes later the Mustangs made the first takeaway of the game as Dakarion Judge intercepted a pass from Simmons returning it to midfield. Gales carried twice for 17 yards before Judge ran the end around the left and down the sideline for a 33-yard touchdown. Polio’s point after gave West Orange-Stark a 14-7 advantage with 6:25 to play in the third quarter.
Jasper was forced to punt after three plays and the Mustangs began again at the fifty. Brown gained a first down with an 8-yard run. Robinson completed his longest pass of the night to Jaden Jones for 35 yards to the five.
Robinson kept on an option to the right side on the next play for the touchdown. The point-after failed to keep the score 20-7 with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff two penalties were called on West Orange-Stark giving Jasper the ball at the Mustang 45. Simmons slanted off left tackle for 20 yards the longest run of the night by the Bulldogs.
A Simmons pass to Thomas and a short run by Simmons gave Jasper a first down at the 14 of West Orange-Stark. Simmons slipped while attempting to pass resulting in a 10-yard loss. Carmello Jones sacked Simmons on the next play setting up third-and-21.
A 10-yard pass to Price made it fourth down when a procedure penalty pushed the Bulldogs five yards further back. Simmons was pressured by multiple Mustangs and his desperation pass fell harmlessly to the ground ending the Jasper scoring threat.
The Mustangs made their longest drive of the night marching from the 19 to the Jasper 21 aided by two personal foul penalties on the Bulldogs. Robinson fumbled as he was going down and the Bulldogs recovered at their 18 foiling the last scoring opportunity for either team.
The game lived up to the contest being a battle of two great defenses. West Orange-Stark held Jasper to just 6 first downs in the game, only three after the first drive which resulted in the Bulldogs’ lone score.
The Mustangs improved their running game in the second half with 123 yards almost double its yardage on the ground in the first half. Gales was the leading rusher with 94 yards on 23 carries. Judge gained 45 yards on three rushes and Brown had 33 yards on 8 carries. Robinson was only 4 of 12 passing for 79 yards with one interception.
The victory means West Orange-Stark will face the Bellville Brahmas (12-0) in the next round of the playoffs. The game will be played Friday at 6pm at Randall Reed Stadium in New Caney.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
WOS 0 7 13 0- 20
JAS 7 0 0 0- 7
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